Kerri's First Day
by bonbon16
Summary: What if Eun-Sang had a female in her corner?
1. Kerri's first day

" Hello, my name is Kerri Blake. I have transferred here from L.A. In America. My mother is President of Kiss Me fashion brand. In my free time I like to go ice-skating and fishing. Personally I don't want to be here. I'm still running on L.A. Time, have a massive headache and consider this whole damn school a joke. I mean why do I have to wear a blazer in ninety degree weather? Oh wait since this is Korea you guys run on the metric system right? I'm not even gonna bother trying to convert that into celsius." This is the introduction that I wanted to say for myself but couldn't. My teacher introduced me in Korean to the rest of the bored looking students. It peeved me out that I couldn't just say it myself but god forbid if I ever get the honorifics wrong. I'm half Korean and half African American. I know Korean but people only see the "stupid American" side to me.

I sat down in my seat and pulled out my teal notebook and a pencil. As the teacher was setting up the SmartBoard I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and it was a friendly looking girl.

" Hello, my name is Cha Eun-Sang." She stuttered out in her broken english she held out her hand to be shook. I turned around in my seat and shook her hand.

" Hello, Cha Eun-Sang." I replied back in Korean. She looked a little shocked with the lack of an accent that I have.

" Thank God that you can speak Korean. I thought I was going to have to start paying attention in English class again." She whispered back in Korean. She smiled wickedly and I returned her smile with a genuine one.

When the bell rang for lunch, Eun-Sang grabbed my hand while I was putting away my notebook.

"C'mon, we need to get to the sushi before it is all gone. Quickly!" I let her pull me down the hallway. When we turned around a corner we hit a massive brick wall. We both went down.

" Why would the have a brick wall right around the corner?" I muttered rubbing my nose. I froze when I heard the absolute silence in the hallway. The usual sounds of people laughing and joking were hushed down. I looked at Cha Eun-Sang and saw her looking up, terrified. I followed my gaze up long legs, a hard torso, broad chest, and into the giants cruel looking face.

"Cha Eun-Sang, what are you going to do for me now that you hurt me so much?" He teased.

Eun-Sang stuttered out an apology.

"What about your friend here? Shouldn't she also be apologizing?" He asked. There was a thin layer of innocence over the anger in his voice.

I stood and realized that this giant was actually an inch shorter than me because of my heeled boots. I looked down my nose at him. " I would apologize to you if you weren't such an ass about it. It was an accident and yet you decide to drag it on because you think we are weaker than you. Your a good four centimeters shorter than me right now," I glanced down at his name tag, " Young Doo, right? Do not bring the anger and resentment you have towards your dad out on me or else you will understand the reason why I was able to survive 16 years in L.A." I warned. "Let's go" I helped up Eun-Sang and slung my arms around her shoulders.

" Hey! This isn't over. You will regret this day." Young Doo shouted. _You and me both._


	2. kerri's night out

I came home to my mom's penthouse suite. The suite is luxurious but temporary until my mom has time to find an actual house here. As soon as I walked through the door the smell of burned sugar stung my nose. I slipped off my shoes and put on the Ugg slippers my mom put by the door because she hates Korean house slippers that much.

"Hey babe. How was school today?" She called from the kitchen. I slammed my fist against the wall in the foyer. "Well, there is my answer." I stalked into the kitchen, seething in my rage.

" Who the hell does he think he is? Little fucking asshole. I hope you get the bubbleguts and can't wipe your shitty ass!" I swore. My mom just raised an eyebrow and put down the pot she was trying to clean. My mom and I have an understanding, as long as my potty mouth didn't get me into trouble I could keep it.

My mom whistled low in appreciation. " So who pissed you off this time?" She asked, leaning fore ward.

" A bully that's who." I grabbed a bottle of water out of the sub-zero fridge and slammed the door shut.

" His name is Choi Young- Do. He is six feet even, I mean, c'mon. I wanted to kick his sniveling little ass into next week, Mom." I ranted. My mom listened attentively while drying her hands on a rag.

" What did he do?" She asked. I explained everything using lots of colorful language and hand motions. The more I told the angrier my mom got. Mess with one Blake and you mess with all of them is our family motto.

"This little shit thinks he step all over my baby? Ooh if you don't beat his ass I will." My mom threatened.

"Mom, the last thing we need right now is me getting kicked out of the most exclusive high school in Korea." I reasoned

She would've said more until her phone dinged. My mom snatched her phone of the granite countertop behind her and tapped it annoyingly.

"OMO! I almost forgot. I have an investment dinner in two hours." She groaned. I snorted on my water. "Its a family dinner so you need to come." I spit my water all over the place. " What?!"

The dinner was at an estate in Gangnam that was all white pillars and Grecian lines. I whistled in appreciation as my mom drove our ferrari up the long drive way. At the entrance there was a valet who took my mom's car without saying a word. Inside the house was even more elegant with lots of crystal and polished darkwoods.

"Now these people can make or break my company, sweetie. So no swearing in any language, no dancing, and no gambling. If your gonna flirt find out what family he is from at least. Oh and please don't get us kicked out." She smiled to a server while accepting a flute of champagne.

"Don't worry about it." I also accepted a flute of champagne but my mother snatched it right out of my hands and back onto the tray in an instant. Nothing gets past this woman I swear.

" Dani Blake! Welcome to my humble abode." I assume it was the hostess who glided over to greet us.

" Ki-Ae! Long time no see! How have you been?" My mother greeted in flawless Korean.

"I have been good. Oh who is this fine young lady?" She asked looking at me.

"This is my daughter." I saw the familiar jolt of surprise and her eyes darting quickly between my mom's face and mine looking for similarities. I couldn't blame her. I have cinnamon brown skin, brown curly hair that I straightened so that it reaches the small of my back, and hazel eyes that I inherited from my father. I'm also a good half a head taller than most of the guests here. I have my mothers's cheek bones and that pretty much covers it. I look more like my dad than my mom.

"Oh have you met my son? Kim Tan, come here." She called over a tall slender guy that took my breath away. His body was yum but his eyes had heartbreak written in them. "Your daughter goes to Jeguk High, right? So does my son." My eyes widened slightly as I bowed and murmured hello.

He bowed his head slightly and murmured an excuse to his mother and left.

"Madame, where is your powder room? Never mind, I'll find it." I slipped away from my mother and Ki-Ae and followed Tan down a hallway. He disappeared around a corner. My heart jumped until I realize there is only one door around the corner. I took a deep breath and opened up the door.

I walked through the doorway into a wine cellar. There was a short staircase into the main part of the cellar. There was Tan in all of his glory sipping a glass of wine at a table in the center of the cellar. He looked up sharply at me, his sad dark eyes slightly menacing.

"Don't mind me, I just came here for the alcohol." I said breezily. I reached for a glass and a bottle of Cabernet.

"Leave."

"I don't want to"

"Leave."

"No"

He glared at me but reluctantly poured me a glass. I sipped the sweet wine and set the crystal glass down.

"Your probably wondering why my Korean is so good, huh?" He just glared at me.

"I'm half korean and half African American. My mom is from here and my dad is from new york. I'm the product. In America making friends isn't so hard. In America everyone is a mix of some cultures. Here no one believes that my mom is my mom." Tan looked up at me with a blank expression.

"Pissing off Young-Do is not gonna help you." He finally says.

"Pissing me off isn't gonna help Young-Do, is it?" I fired back. Kim Tan cracked a crooked smile. "I survived sixteen years in the L.A. School system I think I take on a scared little boy with some serious daddy issues." Tan chuckled

"You are certainly American, aren't you?" Kim Tan asked. His question took me by surprise.

"Yeah, so? At least in America if someone has a problem with someone then they flat out say it. None of this coquette shit that is so popular in Korea." I ranted. I swallowed the last gulp of wine in frustration.

"That must be nice." Tan said.

"What must be nice?" I asked.

"To know exactly how someone is feeling when they are feeling it." His reply took me back a little. I looked into his eyes and saw that sadness written there so explicitly. Tan's expression was so vulnerable and so child like, I did something that shocked the both of us. I hugged him. Tan stiffened in my arms and then relaxed. He wrapped his arms around me and tucked his head against my shoulder.

I don't know how long we just stood there like that, him wrapped in my embrace. Tan shifted in my arms, his lips just a bare centimeter from mine. Our breath, scented from the Cabernet, intermingle.

My breathing got rougher when I saw the need in his eyes he didn't move and neither did I. We had our hands on Pandora's Box but couldn't find the courage to open the lid. When I heard footsteps outside the cellar door, I grabbed Tan's hand and forced him into a shadowed corner behind the staircase. I placed one hand on his mouth and the other on the wall behind him, sealing him in. The cellar door opened up and some one came down, probably to get more wine for the party upstairs, and was shut a few minutes later. I let out the breath that I didn't know I was holding and dropped my hand from Tan's mouth. We stood there awkwardly, not meeting each others eyes.

"Um, I should go." I said awkwardly, my cheeks warming up. He nodded in agreement. I scrambled out of the corner, grabbed my clutch off the table and practically ran up the stairs. As much as I was avoiding an awkward conversation by scrambling out of the cellar, I was also escaping dangerously volatile reaction of teenage hormones.


	3. the morning after

"Kerri, Get up! If you are not up within the next twenty seconds, I'm not driving you to school." The sound of my mother's voice drilled into my brain like a jackhammer. Nonetheless, I got my sorry ass out of bed and into the shower. Ugh, I should not have drank so much wine last. Honestly, Kim Tan and I probably polished off three bottles of wine without even realizing it. I relaxed as the hot steam hit my body and cleared some of the cobwebs in my head.

Kim Tan

That name came and the memories of last night came tumbling into my head with it. I leaned into the hot shower stream allowing the water to stream down my head. Why did his name make my heart race? Why did his sad brown eyes make embrace him? Why?Why?WHY?

No matter how many times I asked myself this question I never got an answer. I sighed and resolved to stop thinking about it. I turned off the water and stepped out of the glass shower stall. I examined myself in the mirror and twisted my wet hair and experimented with different hairstyles. I decided to just do a side braid. I looked at my expansive make up kit and wondered what kind of look would make him notice me today.

I shook my head to rid myself of these thoughts. Kim Tan probably has a girlfriend or is gay. I mean no straight guy is that emotional right? Ugh, I am so disgusted with myself right now.

"Kerri, if your not dressed and in my car within the next five minutes I will personally deliver to your crazy ex boyfriend your new phone number." My mom yelled from the kitchen.

My eyes widened. Please not Crazy Steve. I had to change my number three times and move halfway across the world to in order for him to stop following me. _She wouldn't actually,_I scoffed. Then I remembered when I was twelve and I got my first period, I wouldn't leave my room because I didn't want everyone to know that I was on my period. My mom forced me to go to Target around the corner, and buy a pack of maxi pads, all by myself. This woman knows no boundaries.

In record time, I got my uniform on, backpack packed, tea in mug, and shoes on. I met my mom down in the parking garage of our complex just as she was revving the engine to her Ferrari.

"Mom, you really didn't mean it about Crazy Steve, right?" I asked her.

"Well now I guess we don't have to find now, do we?" She said. The evil gleam in my mom's brown eyes made me never want to drink ever again.

I pulled down the vanity mirror just as my mom pulled out of the parking garage. I pulled out my eyeliner from my purse and started carefully applying liner to my upper lid.

" At the party last night, what happened?" My mom interrogated not to subtly.

"What do you mean?" I replied innocently.

"Don't get cute with me, girl. I saw you sneak away with Ki-Ae's son and now your all getting cute for school." I faltered on my liner and ended up going up to my eyebrow.

"Look what you made me do!" I said all exasperated.

"Just lick you fingertips and get rid of it." My Mom instructed. "You never answered the question"

"Dammit. Mom, this is one of those things that I need to figure out on my own, because even I don't know what happened last night." I confessed.

There was a moment of silence in the car before my mom said softly, "Honey, I don't want you to get hurt like last time. It hurt watching you in so much pain and knowing there wasn't anything I couldn't do to help you."

The mood suddenly shifted to a more serious one as I remembered last summer when my heart shattered.

My first love and only boyfriend made me feel special, like I was the only one in the world that mattered to him. That is until I found out that I wasn't the only one that he made feel special. I was one of twelve. He used me and took my virginity on top of that. In the end I was nothing to him but convenience. I couldn't leave my room for weeks, mom would just listen to me crying and my dad was the one that finally took me out of room and said something that would stick with me for a lifetime, _Baby girl, life sucks. Its full of blood, sweat and tears. Its messy and confusing. But why does your happiness depend on the approval of someone else? _

"Mom, nothing is going on between me and Kim Tan. We just met." I exasperated.

She nodded, "Good. I believe we are a mile from the school so get your makeup together."

I finished up my liner, took a quick swipe of frosted pink lip gloss, and checked my hair in the mirror.

I could see the long line of limos and foreign sports cars in front of the school drop off area as my mom slowed the car down.

"Have a good day Mom." I called as a climbed out of the car.

"Are you forgetting something?" She asked. I rolled my eyes.

"I love you Mom."

"I love you too, sweetie, but here." She stuck a brown paper bag in my hand.

"Did you make this?" I eyed the bag suspiciously.

"No your dad had this sent to you from your favorite bakery on Melrose." My smile lit up my face.

"Really? Oh thanks mom!" With a mug of tea in one hand and an apple fritter from Davicii's in the other this day was shaping out to be a good one.


	4. the confession

"Hey, sunbae, is that the new girl?" One of my cronies pointed to the girl that humiliated me in front of the entire school. This girl really new how to make an entrance. She stepped out of the Ferrari with nothing but confidence on her face. The rising sun behind her lighted up her skin and made her positively glow. Her big, dark brown eyes seem to smile at everyone. Fortunately, I wasn't the only person who was gaping at her. Everyone who was milling around the school was staring at her and probably remembering my humiliation yesterday. One thing that I don't understand is how she new about my "daddy issues". She was able to see right through my wall where other people couldn't even penetrate.

The thought of that humiliation finally snapped me out of my trance. I wanted blood from this insolent American girl. I was going to make her submit to me one way or another.

As I was walking up the pathway to the school, Cha Eun-Sang joined me. Her excited smile got an answering smile from me.

"Yah, Unnie, you are seriously tall, you know that?" She remarked staring up at me and exaggerating the tilt of head.

"Yah, Unnie, you are really short, you know that?" I replied mimicking her. She burst out laughing at my failed attempt at imitating her voice.

"Yah, Cha Eun-Sang!" Eun-Sang turned at the sound of her name. She smiled and waved as a couple came walking over.

"Chan Young, Bo Na!" She called out. She waved them over.

"Cha Eun-Sang, you really are a special girl." Bo Na muttered. Eun-Sang just looked at her with a questioning look.

" Yoon Chan Young, Lee Bo Na; this is the new transfer student from L.A., Kerri" They both turned and nodded their hellos. The way Eun-Sang said Kerri, it came out like Kari

" Nice to meet you Kerri." Bo Na said in perfect english which really took me by surprise.

"Nice to meet you too." I replied.

"Kerri, are all girls from America as brave as you?" Chan Young asked.

"What?" I asked taking a sip of my tea.

"He is talking about how you basically told Young-Do off and even threatened him. That takes guts." Bo Na said in English.

"That? Hey, where I come from you need to call people out on their bullshit or else they keep doing it." I replied back in Korean. "Besides," I added, "I hate bullies. Using daddy as an excuse for your barbaric behavior is not o.k."

"You want to eat with us during lunch? You can protect Eun-Sang again if Choi Young-Do comes after her again." Chan Young invited.

I smiled, "Sure."

When we walked into class before the first lesson, the entire class hushed down a bit. I could feel everybody's stares boring into my body. I sat down in my desk and Eun-Sang took the desk behind me.

"Yah, New Girl, smile!" A camera flashed in face, leaving me seeing white spots in my vision.

"What do you think your doing?" I barked. The errant camera man only smiled while looking at his picture.

"This is a good shot isn't it? Man, you have so much natural beauty." He admired the photo for another second before actually looking at me.

"My name is Myung Soo, I don't think we have been introduced yet." His cocky grin showed off his straight white teeth.

"Kerri Blake" I replied, "So why did you randomly take my picture?" I asked.

"I do that with everyone so that I have a good selection from when I make the yearbook." He replied taking a picture of Chan Young and Bo Na cuddling in the back.

"Yah, Myung Soo, don't lie. You only take pictures of pretty girls." Eun-Sang said

"Then why haven't I taken yours?" He asked

"Yah, Myung Soo, do you want to die?" Eun Sang raised a tiny fist as if she was going to hit him.

"Class settle down." The teacher called for order as she walked in. She surveyed the classroom looking for any empty desks as she pulled out her attendance folder. She frowned and looked from the seating chart to the empty desk in the back corner of the classroom. "Where is Kim Tan?" She asked the class. My heart dropped to my stomach. Is Kim Tan supposed to be in my class too? Why kind of cruel twist of fate is this?

"Here I am. Sorry I'm late." Kim Tan came walking through the door all six feet of attractiveness and heartbreak. His eyes rove until they meet mine and a look of complete shock is on his face for a hot second before he breaks eye contact and he sits down in his desk.

The entire time during the lesson I couldn't help but look back at Kim Tan. I caught him glancing up at me but he would quickly look away.

"Remember students, read pages 321 through 330 tonight and answer the main idea questions." The teacher said wrapping up the last lesson for the morning. As all the students started packing up their backpacks and chatting about stock prices, I made a plan to talk to Kim Tan. Cha Eun-Sang caught me looking at Kim Tan and grabbed my arm.

"Are you going to talk to him? Are you crazy?" She asked

"I have some things to discuss with him. I will meet you in the lunchroom." I murmured. I shook free of her hand and marched to Kim Tan as he was leaving.

"Yah, Kim Tan. Is there a private place we can discuss?" I asked him. He turned around and the surprise on his face almost made me laugh.

"Follow me." He inclined his head down the hallway.

We walked out to the beautiful garden in the the school's east cloister. The garden reminded me of an artsy sculpture garden my parent's took me to in San Francisco. The stones in the pathway were dark gray which contrasted nicely with the bright colors of the flowers. Kim Tan walked over to the fountain and sat on its ledge.

"What do you want to talk about?" He was blunt and straight to the point.

"How about we start with the almost kiss?" I was just as blunt and straight to the point.

" We were drunk." He said simply.

"I believe so, yes we were. But you know that isn't the reason why."

" What do you want to hear? That I almost kissed you because you seem like you actually give a fuck? That I wanted you there and then because you seem to be hurting and I wanted to take the pain away?" Tan exploded. His eyes snapping at me. His words shocked me into complete silence. "I don't even know if I'm falling for you now" He added more softly.

"Kim Tan, look at me." I murmured. I crouched low in order to be on eye-level with him. I sighed then looked him in the eyes."You basically took the words right out of my mouth. I'm just as confused about all of this. I mean, we met at the party last night and then we're in the same class."

"Yeah, but your not the only one." Kim Tan murmured.

"What?"

"I think I like another girl and I was going to confess to her, but now you showed up in the picture making me feel all confused." He muttered

_Wow._ I thought. I got up from my crouch and sat next to him on the ledge of the fountain. This is some heavy stuff.

"This is kinda funny, isn't it?" I asked looking up at the cloudy sky. Tan just looked at me funny.

"I'm pretty sure we just confessed to each other but we can't be together can we?" Oh no, I could here the tears thicken my voice. "You know how I feel, I know how you feel; but it's just too complicated isn't it?" I laughed a little even as the tears started rolling down my cheeks.

"Kerri, I just need to figure some things out." Tan said

"Don't give me false hope! Don't ever say anything that can be misconstrued as there is a possibility for us being together!" I cried jumping up from my seat on the ledge.

"Your right. I'm sorry." He apologized with his head down low.

"Kim Tan, I think it'll be best for the both of us if we don't talk to each other. Let's agree that if we see the other in the hallway we will not acknowledge them." I stuck out my pinky for a promise. He gave me a pained expression before finally relenting and grasping my pinky with his.


	5. the fight

Back in the lunchroom, I grabbed a plate from the buffet and filled it with rice and curry. I scanned the lunchroom until I found Cha Eun-Sang and her friends. They spotted me and waved me over. As I was walking over there I tripped over something. At the last minute, I felt a broad hand on my forearm keeping me from falling into the puddle of curry. As the person lifted me up I turned to thank them and saw that it was Choi Young-Do's sporting a smug smirk on his face.

"What the hell?!" I shouted in English. I pushed him off of me and stood back in rage. "Do you think this is funny? Do you think I'm a toy to be played with?" I yelled. Good, that smug smirk is gone.

"Yah! I was trying to help you!" Young-Do said in his sugary, sweet voice reserved only for menacing people.

"So you weren't the one that tripped me?" I asked equally menacing.

"Well, I was, but then-" I wouldn't even let him finish his sentence before I punched his pretty little lights out.

The entire lunch room fell silent when my fist connected with Young-Do's face.

"That's reason number three on how I survived the L.A. School system." I said darkly while cracking my fist. As I turned away I saw the students that had gathered round part the way for the Principal of the school. She was a small woman with an icy glare and a cold demeanor.

"You two, my office, now." She ordered. She gave us each a disgusted look before turning away in her Jimmy Choo's.

I glanced over at Young-Do and his face was even whiter than usual and his breathing got a little more erratic. Is this woman really that scary? I know that in the States they can't give us corporal punishments. I hope its not different in Korea.

Out in the hallway in front of the lunchroom, Young-Do's behavior get's more and more concerning. He starts biting his lips, loosening up his tie, and little beads of sweat start forming on his forehead.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"You punched me in the face and everybody saw that. No, I'm not ok." He snapped

We rounded the corner and came to the administration office. We were directed to sit and wait in the waiting room before going in to see the Principal.

"She is ready to see you now." The receptionist said a phone held between her shoulder and her ear.

The principal's office was very impressive. She had a massive mahogany desk and the dark wood paneled walls were filled with her various degrees and . She also had a little couch area where she directed us to sit. She came walking over from her desk, the clicking of her high heels silenced on the carpet.

"I'm gonna keep this short. Kerri I saw you act out violently against Young-Do," she glared at me then switched her attention to Young-Do, "because Young-Do tripped you causing you to drop your plate of curry and rice."

"I do not condone violence in any shape or form. You two fighting has interrupted the peace of this school." I kept my head low and just took the verbal scolding. _Please don't call my mom. Please don't call my mom._ I kept thinking in my head. I love my mom, but she takes cruel and unusual to a whole new level.

"Kerri, I've called your mom; Young-Do, I've called your dad." If Young-Do's face could go even whiter it did. I blanched.

"Where the hell is that juvenile delinquent of a daughter?!" I heard my mom scream from out side the door. Two seconds later, My mom comes busting into the office her eyes snapping and fire coming from her nostrils. A moment later Young-Do's father walks in, a severe looking man with the expression of a pit bull.

"Mrs. Blake can you please calm down." The Principal ordered. My mom looked like she was gonna kill somebody then they bloodlust leaves her eyes. She came over and sat next to me on the couch. I slid a little away from my mother and sat a little straighter. As the Principal explained what happened, I snuck glances up at Young-Do and his father. Young-Do's father just tightened his lips and nodded his along with what she was saying.

"Since it seems like both of these young people have a lot of anger and pent up rage, I am sentencing them to anger management classes along with the twenty hours of community service."

"What?!" Young-Do and I both yell.

"Do you have a problem? Wanna make it thirty?" She asked.

"Principal Kim, thank you for this leniency. I will personally make sure Kerri is well disciplined at home tonight." My mom said graciously. If looks could kill I would probably be in heaven right now.

"I will also make sure that Young-Do is properly punished tonight." Young-Do's father said coldly. This is one scary dude. Despite the fact that he is a good head shorter than me, he still scares me to death.

"Ok, now that we are at an agreement you may take your leave." Principal Kim dismissed us. My mom stood up and dragged me by the ear out of the door.

"Mom! What are you doing? There are security camera's everywhere." I shrieked. She dragged me to a secluded corner by the entrance.

"Kerri Angelica Blake! What did I say about fighting?" My mom asked.

I hung my head low and answered, "Only hit someone if its in self-defense." I muttered.

"Was this self-defense?" She asked.

"No"

"What was that?"

"No it wasn't. I was wrong in settling my anger in such a violent way." I said.

"Oh if your father was here he would would be tearing that ass up!"

"Well who's fault is it that Dad isn't here." I shouted. I wiped at my tears angrily with the sleeve of my blazer.

"Who's fault is it that I live halfway across the world from my own father? Who's bright idea was it that I start school in some foreign school where the kids separate themselves based on what their parents do? I have one friend and dozens of enemies, mom." I can tell that what I said struck a nerve in my mom because she did one thing that I didn't know she was capable of doing. She shut up.

My mom reached for my hand, pleading in her eyes. I shrugged her off and ran towards the exit. I could here someone calling out to me faintly but I kept going passed the school grounds, through the gate and down the street before I slowed down.

I saw a picnic area outside of a convenience store and sat down crying. I sobbed, letting out all of my pain and misery that I have harbored since my mom announced her divorce from my dad, since moving to Seoul, since Kim Tan decided to come in looking like Pandora's box.

"Hey" I looked up through my watery eyes at Choi Young-Do.

"What do want?" I asked wiping my eyes with my sleeve. He sat across from me and threw a packet of tissues at me.

"The sleeves of the blazers are made out of silk. They are not very absorbent." He stated. He carefully set down two bowels of steaming ramen. I sniffled and looked at Choi Young-Do in confusion.

"Is one of these bowels mine?" I asked.

"Do you really think I can eat two of these bowels?" He asked gruffly. I looked at Young-Do's face closely. He had a black eye, cut on his lip and a cut from his temple to his forehead.

"Did I really do all of that to your face?" I asked horrified. I didn't mean to mar his face, I just wanted to teach him a lesson. I reached out to touch his face but he grabbed my hand before it can reach his face.

"Don't touch me." He gritted through his teeth. I swallowed at the pure threat in his voice wasn't even sugar-coated like it usually is. He let go of my hand slowly and retracted my hand.

"I know you didn't get a chance to eat lunch so here. Eat up" He gestured to the ramen. I picked up the chopsticks in one hand and lifted to the lid with the other. I stirred around the ramen and took a bite. It tasted so good! It was spicy just like how I like my food. I looked up and saw Young-Do struggling to hold the chopsticks in his left hand.

"Here" I scooted closer to Young-Do and plucked the chopsticks from his hand. I picked up a gob of noodles and held them out for him to eat. He gave me a venomous look and I just held out the noodles impatiently for him. After another second of him giving me the death glare, took the bite of noodles. I picked up another gob of noodles and just kept feeding him until it was all gone.

We sat there in silence for a moment. I picked up my bowel of forgotten ramen and started to eat it again. After I finished I looked over at Young-Do's face. He had a stormy look on his face that made his cuts and bruises stand out even more.

I mustered up the courage and turned to ask him a very important question. "Why are you being so nice to me? I punched you in the face, got you in trouble with your dad."

He looked at me for a second before answering. "Look you see this place?", he asked I nodded, "This is my sanctuary. Your in my sanctuary. Does it seem right for someone to be crying in a sanctuary." He finally answered.

"Tin man, you do have a heart." I quoted. I smiled a little at his simple explanation.

"What does that mean?" He asked. I realized that I said it in English.

"I quoted a- never mind its not important." I said.

"Young-Do, is there a place where you can get cleaned up?" I said concern coloring my voice. He gave me an unreadable look.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" He asked. I smiled a wistful smile and thought a bit.

"You bought me ramen, gave me tissues, and a place to cry about my problems." I said listing them off on my fingers.

"Let me help you and we can call it even." I offered. I stuck out my hand for him to shake. "Let's call a truce even if its just for today." He glanced at my hand for a moment before clasping it in his bigger hand.

"Truce."


End file.
